Poets Who Walk and Write in Concord

To the Other Side

Still have the maritime thing on my mind.

Jesus got into the boat with some disciples and said, “Let us go over to the other side”. He proceeded to go to sleep abaft. A fearsome storm arose on Galilee. The disciples in a panic reduced sail and bailed for all they were worth. But conditions worsened.

Finally they alerted their Lord, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” He awoke and calmed the maelstrom with His word. “Peace be still.” (Mark 4: 36-41). His next words convicted them “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”

Faith in what? His word of course. His abiding care. “Let us go over”. I like what Kathryn Kuhlman said in a book about this episode. ‘Their faith was asleep in the boat with them. Totally confident. Totally immersed in the human condition and in the immediate peril. Totally aware of the wiles of the devil.’ He hadn’t given them a creed or a twelve-point program. He had given them Himself.

In a memorable song by Phil Driscoll the following words stand out:

And I love my Captain
And the creaking of the riggin’ in the wind.
Think I’m gonna sail away with Him.

Two guys who hit it off at a writers' forum. One American. One Canadian. Both in the family of faith. Both constrained to magnify God, thank Jesus and welcome the Spirit. Verses of challenge, remembrance, thanksgiving, revelation and hope, prayerfully brought to light. (Psalm 107: 2-7)